Total Pageviews

Saturday, April 2, 2016

Judge passes
strictures against SIT, refers matter of attack on minority to SHRC for enquiry
and prosecution

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

_______

JAMMU,
April 1: Close on the heels of disclosure in media that Police in Kishtwar
district had shown some known activists of BJP-linked outfits, who were wanted
in the matters of murder, as “untraced” and “absconding”, Police in Jammu
district have hushed up a matter of attack on the Muslim community and claimed
in a court that none of the accused activists of Shiv Sena and Vishwa Hindu
Parishad, allegedly involved in the arson, could be traced or identified.
However, thejudge has passed strictures
against the Police and referred the matter to Jammu and Kashmir State Human
Rights Commission (SHRC) for enquiry, and if necessary, prosecution of the
officers involved in ‘abetment’ or ‘negligence’.

On
March 30, First Additional Sessions Judge Jammu, M.A. Chowdhary, accepted the
closure report in case FIR No: 37 of 2013, filed by Police Station Pacca Danga,
as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) claimed that none of the arsonists had
been identified or traced during the course of investigation. FIR No: 37 under
sections 436, 336, 147, 148, 427 and 323 of Ranbir Penal Code had been filed on
August 10, 2013, when a group of people, allegedly associated with Shiv Sena
and VHP, had attacked and harassed the members of the minority community in New
Plot area of Jammu following the communal riots in Kishtwar.

A
number of the properties belonging to the minority community had been damaged
and set ablaze which resulted in registration of the FIR for the criminal
offenses that involve imprisonment for life and rigorous imprisonment up to 10
years. Police constituted the SIT, comprising Inspectors Vijay Singh Chowdhary,
Naresh Sharma and Daljit Singh and Sub Inspectors Jasbir Singh and Mohammad
Fareed, for the investigation.

Even
as the identity of the arsonists was a matter of the common public knowledge,
the investigators waited for over a year for the victims to come forward and
identify the men involved in the arson and attack. As none of the victims
mustered courage to attract further trouble, Police conveniently closed the
matter. On December 22, 2014, it approached the court with the claim that the
accused could not be found and the matter had been closed as not traced. On
March 30, 2016, the judge accepted the Police closure report but took exception
to its failure in investigating the case.

“Inspector
Vijay Singh Chowdhary of P/S Pacca Danga on 10.08.2013 from New Plot, Jammu,
sent a despatch to his Police Station asserting therein that a mob of 30/40
activists of Shiv Sena and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) at about 11.00 pm caused
damage by setting ablaze shops of minority community at New Plot and that
nobody could be arrested as they escaped and that some Policemen had also been
injured due to stone pelting. A case was registered at P/S Pacca Danga, Jammu,
vide FIR No: 37/2013 for the commission of offences punishable under sections 336/147/148/427/136
RPC”, the judge recorded.

While accepting the closure
report, the judge however recorded: “Before parting with the order, it is
observed that the officers of the law enforcement agency have failed to
discharge their duties and the human rights of the victims have been seriously
violated. Police officers, having chain of command, have either abetted the
violation of the human right or committed negligence in the prevention of such
violence being public servants responsible to maintain law and order”.

“Section 13 of the Jammu and Kashmir
Protection of Human Rights Act 1997 provides that State Human Rights Commission
shall enquire suo moto on a petition presented to it by a victim or any person
on his behalf into complaint of (I) violation of human rights or abetment
thereof; or (II) negligence in the prevention of such violation by a public
servant”, the judge observed in his order and added: “Section 19 of the Act
provides that after inquiry as contemplated in Section 13, the Commission has
the authority to initiate proceedings for prosecution of violation of human
rights or negligence in the prevention of violation of human rights by a public
servant”.

Pulling up the State for its
failure to set up the human rights courts, the judge observed: “Government of
Jammu and Kashmir has not constituted any Human Rights Courts as required u/s
21 of the Act and also as directed by Hon’ble Supreme Court. Therefore, this
court is left with no option except to refer the matter to the State Human
Rights Commission, with a request to inquire into the matter and in case during
inquiry it is disclosed that officers of the law enforcement agencies had
either abetted the commission of violation of human rights of the victims or
neglected in the prevention thereof, to initiate the proceedings for
prosecution or such other action as the commission may deem fit against the
concerned public servants”.

The
judge directed that a copy of the order be sent to the Secretary SHRC at
Srinagar for consideration of the Commission.

Interestingly,
the SHRC itself is currently totally defunct as the PDP-BJP Government headed
by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, followed by Governor’s regime, did not appoint its
Chairman and members after the retirement of the incumbent functionaries in
2015-16.